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Building Your Assets

Building Your Assets

Faced with rising student debt burdens, stagnant wages, and a higher cost of living, our generation faces obstacles to growing assets, such as buying a home

One of the starkest illustrations of how our economic outlook differs from that of our parents’: The declining share of younger Americans who own their homes.

Fewer young adult households own their homes

The percentage of 25- to 34-year old households who own their homes is at its lowest point on record - and down sharply since the mid-2000s. In 2016, about 60 percent of 25- to 34-year-old households rented their homes, compared to less than 40 percent who owned their homes and were able to build equity to help grow their wealth.

But millennials haven’t given up on the American Dream. According to a 2016 Trulia survey, nearly three-quarters of millennials consider homeownership part of their American Dream, and 83 percent plan on buying their own home someday.